Yes, the sound is bad, but DL knew what he was talking about when he put this in the same category as 2-13-70. Even if you're not on anything, you can listen to this Dark Star and see the notes rather than hearing them.

Even if a better recording never surfaces (and IIRC a lot of the band's 1970 shows weren't recorded by the band, or the recordings were lost), I believe that in our lifetimes there will be technology to clean this up massively. If the human brain can make out every note that Phil and Jerry are playing, then in theory a digital filter can.

Pretty good but not great, sound very cloudy

Seeemingly first Jersey show. So many highlights, as Dick said Primal stuff here...but to reiterate for the heads with a 31-band EQ or innate GD perception(me + others God bless)... Till the Morning Comes, Dancin, Candyman, Dark Star, everything else. Read the reviews of folks who were there.....The Source.......

The college did not book the band until a week before the gig.The college did not tell the band that to pay themwhat they wanted they would have to play to two shows in one night because the theater only had a few hundred seats.The tickets were $3 and $4. There was supposed to be a6:00 and 9:00 shows. The band was all there by 5:30 except for Lesh who was lost in a taxi riding around Paterson for hours because the taxi driver did not kwow Paterson State is not in Paterson. Needless to say Lesh showed up at 8:30 and we had a 9:00 and a 10:30 show. there was a midnight curfew. The secound show opened wih China Cat.

Give this relic a listen at least once.
And see if you can handle it.

I could only find one other show on archive with an early version from the previous night and it's barely more than a tease with no words. This version is more solid, although you can still hear they are ironing out some kinks. It's cool to hear the audience get into and start clapping. You can hear one person laugh when they start singing "Going down the road feelin' bad." I'm not going to rate this show, but definitely worth a listen.

This was one of the most amazing nights of my life. A group of us, maybe 5 or6 people, including my kid brother (15 years old) went to this campus with no tickets. We worked our way into the auditorium rear entrance from the street and hid there. Suddenly to our shock the door opened from the out side in came the Dead. I grabbed Weir and asked him if he would take us in with the group and he said sure. We proceeded to follow the band into a sort of lounge area and began indulging in various chemicals.

The group I came with basically disassembled and we all went our own way. To be totally honest I can't remember if the night included two shows or just two sets. I do remember standing on the stage(behind the amps)for the first part of the night and then sitting in the first row directly in front of Garcia for the second part. The auditorium was weird in that the stage wasn't really a stage but more an extension of the seating area just ramping away from the seats. The separation between the seats and stage was nothing more that a three foot tall pony wall.Anyway there I sat for the second part of my adventure looking right into the eyes of Jerry Garcia(he couldn't have been more than six feet away from me)!! As I stood there and watched him play he looked not at me but through me. As I said in my title it was a memory for a lifetime.

The quality of this performance is very difficult to listen to, but for me it is all that is holy in my Grateful Dead world.I remain in touch with a few of the members of the group I was with that night including my brother(now 53). We all consider that night as a gift.

I realize that this is not a review per se but we're all entitled to our memories and I wanted to share this on with the only people I think could understand.

Listen to the show if you can handle the poor quality because the band was ass kickin' that night.

I'm rating this a four so as not to bring down the overall rating and because this is one that every deadhead should experience.

Love to all during this season of joy.

I believe Dick Latvala named this show, along with 2/13/70 and 12/19/73 as his favorite "Primal Dead" examples. The sound quality is not all that great but veteran heads who grew up on high generation tapes should have little problem adjusting to the sound quality and finding the pearls from this performance. Sound quality is a 2 or 3 and the performance is a 4 or five. Averages out to a 3 or 3 1/2.
Dancing In the Street is a must along with the Dark Star.

Welcome to New Jersey!

An audience tape of a show which, if it were a soundboard in minty shape, would be widely loved.

The Dark Star is special with some extended wah weirdness that smells more like '74 than '70.

The Dancin' jam is nice, especially around 7:30 when the "stuck in the mud" part of the song begins and Phil gets to do a bit of soloing. The re-entry, as always, is painful as hell.

This is a cool show that yours ears may or may not adapt to after a few songs. Get it for historical purposes if you want, but I'd wait for a better copy (if there is one?)...